Archive for the 'Speak Swahili' Category

Learn 4 tools and techniques to stop translating in your head and start thinking in Swahili

Going through Swahili lessons is enough to get by and learn the basics of Swahili, but to truly become fluent you need to be able to think in Swahili. This will allow you to have conversations with ease, read smoothly, and comprehensively understand natives. To do this, you need to go beyond just completing daily or weekly lessons.

We naturally translate in our heads because it’s viewed as the easiest way to learn the definitions needed when learning a language. This way of learning can actually hinder your skills and fluency later on. If your brain has to make neural connections between the word you’re learning, what it means in your native tongue, and the physical object the connection will not be nearly as strong. When you bypass the original translation between Swahili and your native language then there is a more basic and strong connection between just the Swahili vocabulary word and the tangible object.

In this blog post, you will learn the 4 important techniques to easily and naturally begin to speculate about the daily occurrences in your life. The best part is all of these techniques are supported and can be achieved through SwahiliPod101.com.

By surrounding yourself with Swahili constantly you will completely immerse yourself in the language. Without realizing it you’ll be learning pronunciation, sentence structures, grammar, and new vocabulary. You can play music in the background while you’re cooking or have a Swahili radio station on while you study. Immersion is a key factor with this learning process because it is one of the easiest things to do, but very effective. Even if you are not giving the program your full attention you will be learning.

One great feature of SwahiliPod101.com is the endless podcasts that are available to you. You can even download and listen to them on the go. These podcasts are interesting and are perfect for the intention of immersion, they are easy to listen to as background noise and are interesting enough to give your full attention. Many of them contain stories that you follow as you go through the lessons which push you to keep going.

2. Learn through observation

Learning through observation is the most natural way to learn. Observation is how we all learned our native languages as infants and it’s a wonder why we stop learning this way. If you have patience and learn through observation then Swahili words will have their own meanings rather than meanings in reference to your native language. Ideally, you should skip the bilingual dictionary and just buy a dictionary in Swahili.

SwahiliPod101.com also offers the materials to learn this way. We have numerous video lessons which present situational usage of each word or phrase instead of just a direct translation. This holds true for many of our videos and how we teach Swahili.

3. Speak out loud to yourself

Speaking to yourself in Swahili not only gets you in the mindset of Swahili, but also makes you listen to how you speak. It forces you to correct any errors with pronunciation and makes it easy to spot grammar mistakes. When you speak out loud talk about what you did that day and what you plan to do the next day. Your goal is to be the most comfortable speaking out loud and to easily create sentences. Once you feel comfortable talking to yourself start consciously thinking in your head about your daily activities and what is going on around you throughout the day.

With SwahiliPod101.com you start speaking right away, not only this, but they have you repeat words and conversations after a native Swahili speaker. This makes your pronunciation very accurate! With this help, you are on the fast path to making clear and complex sentences and then actively thinking about your day.

4. Practice daily

If you don’t practice daily then your progress will be greatly slowed. Many people are tempted to take the 20-30 minutes they should be practicing a day and practice 120 in one day and skip the other days. This isn’t nearly as effective because everyday you practice you are reinforcing the skills and knowledge you have learned. If you practice all in one day you don’t retain the information because the brain can realistically only focus for 30 minutes at most. If you’re studying for 120 minutes on the same subject little of the information will be absorbed. Studying everyday allows you to review material that you went over previous days and absorb a small amount of information at a time.

It’s tough to find motivation to study everyday, but SwahiliPod101.com can help. It’s easy to stay motivated with SwahiliPod101.com because we give you a set learning path, with this path we show how much progress you’ve made. This makes you stick to your goals and keep going!

Conclusion

Following the steps and having patience is the hardest part to achieving your goals, it’s not easy learning a new language. You are essentially teaching your brain to categorize the world in a completely new way. Stick with it and you can do it just remember the 4 tools I taught you today! With them, conversations, reading, and understanding will become much easier. The most important thing to remember is to use the tools that SwahiliPod101.com provides and you will be on your way to being fluent!

Speaking is usually the #1 weakness for all Swahili learners. This is a common issue among language learners everywhere. The reason for this is obvious: When language learners first start learning a language, they usually start with reading. They read online articles, books, information on apps and so on. If they take a class, they spend 20% of their time repeating words, and 80% of the time reading the textbook, doing homework or just listening to a teacher. So, if you spend most of your time reading instead of speaking, you might get better at reading but your speaking skills never grow. You get better at what you focus on.

So if you want to improve you speaking skills, you need to spend more of your study time on speaking. Here are five tips to help you get started:

1. Read out loud
If you’re listening to a lesson and reading along, read out loud. Then re-read and speed up your tempo. Do this again and again until you can speak faster. Try your best to pronounce the words correctly, but don’t obsess about it. Read swiftly, emote and put some inflection on the sentences. Reading aloud helps to train the muscles of your mouth and diaphragm to produce unfamiliar words and sounds.

2. Prepare things to say ahead of time.
As you may know from experience, most learners run out of things to say. But, if you prepare lines ahead of time, you won’t be at a loss for words in conversations. This will help you not only to learn how to say the words, but how to say them in the right context. A good way to prepare yourself before conversations is with our Swahili Pronunciation Series, which teaches you how to pronounce Swahili letters easily:

3. Use shadowing (repeat the dialogues as you hear them).
Shadowing is an extremely useful tool for increasing fluency as well as improving your accent and ability to be understood. Shadowing helps create all the neural connections in your brain to produce those words and sentences quickly and accurately without having to think about it. Also, as mentioned in tip #1, shadowing helps develop the muscle memory in all the physical parts responsible for the production of those sounds. Depending on what your primary and target languages are, it’s quite likely that there are a lot of sounds your mouth just isn’t used to producing. Shadowing can be done, for example, when watching TV shows or movies or listening to music.

Each one of our lessons begins with a dialogue. Try to shadow the conversation line by line, and you’ll be mastering it in no time.

4. Review again and again.
This is the key to perfection, and we can’t emphasize it enough. Most learners don’t review! If you review and repeat lines again and again, you’ll be speaking better, faster and with more confidence.

5. DON’T BE AFRAID TO MAKE MISTAKES!
You’d be surprised by how many people try to avoid talking! The more you speak, the faster you learn – and that is why you’re learning Swahili. Practice speaking every chance you get: whether it’s ordering coffee, shopping or asking for directions.

1. Ends Friday! Learn Swahili with 26% OFF & a FREE Audiobook!
No school. No stress. Learn Swahili at your pace and start speaking in minutes with effective lessons! ‘Til Friday only, get 26% OFF any 1- or 2-year plan and a BONUS Swahili Audiobook as a 2-for-1 deal. You get access to 50+ hours of audio and video lessons by teachers, lesson notes, motivational progress stats, apps, study tools and more. Just $2.96/month and up to $62.40 OFF. Hurry! Ends Friday, 8/28/2015!

2. NEW Feature! Learn and Stay Motivated with NEW Achievement Badges
Learning Swahili? You deserve recognition and motivation. So, if you’re a Premium PLUS member… you can now unlock new badges as your Swahili improves. Your Premium PLUS teacher will give out badges as you complete weekly assignments. The result? You master more Swahili, unlock badges for your progress, and stay motivated to keep going.

3. Here’s a Sneak Peek at the Newly Redesigned Word Bank!
We haven’t fully announced this yet… but here’s a sneak peek! The Word Bank – your personal collection of words and phrases – is better than ever. What’s new? First, a shiny new design. You can sort and manage your vocab and phrases with custom labels. And feel free to print out your entries as physical study material or export them as files! Not a Premium member? Take advantage of the 26% discount by Friday.

P.S. We’re giving you a BONUS 6.5-Hour Audiobook. Get 26% OFF by Friday!
No school or textbooks necessary to learn Swahili! In fact, you get a FREE Audiobook when you get 26% OFF any 1- or 2-year plan. Master Swahili in LESS time with this 2-for-1 deal! Unlock our learning system – over 50 hours of audio and video lesson by real teachers and more! Just $2.96/month and up to $62.40 OFF. Hurry! Ends Friday, 8/28/2015!

There are plenty of destinations where you can get by with English, but sometimes you want to do better than just ‘get by’. Here are 6 reasons you should learn the basics of the language of your next trip destination.

1. You will be able to discover your destination better than other tourists.
Getting by is one thing, but actually experiencing a trip abroad is quite another. No amount of guidebooks and online research can compensate for a basic lack of language ability. Speaking the language of your destination permits you to explore that destination beyond the regular tourist traps. Your language skills will not only allow you to dig into all the hidden gems of your destination, but they will also allow you to mingle with the locals to get a true experience on your holiday. Think of it this way: you’re not restricted to talking to the people at the tourist desk anymore.

2. Knowing how to communicate with local police or medical personnel can be life-saving.
Before you leave for your destination, make sure you learn how to ask for help in that destination’s local tongue. Do you know how to ask the waiter if this dish has peanuts in it? Or tell your host family that you’re allergic to fish? Can you tell the local doctor where it hurts? Moreover, an awareness of an environment improves your chance of remaining safe inside it. For example, walking around a busy marketplace, dazzled by an unfamiliar language, signs and accents will instantly render any tourist a more attractive mark for pickpockets. Communicating with other people, asking questions and looking confident will make you look like a semi-local yourself, and will ward off potential thieves.

3. It helps you relax.
Traveling is much less stressful when you understand what that announcement at the airport was saying, or if this bus line reaches your hotel. These things stress you out when traveling and they disappear when you understand the language. This allows you to focus on planning your trip in a better, easier way.

4. Speaking the language can provide you with a way to get to know people you’d never otherwise have the opportunity to speak with.
Sometimes those relationships turn into friendships, and other times they’re nothing more than a lively conversation. Either way, as Nelson Mandela said: “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.” When you approach someone – even staff at a store or restaurant – with English, rather than their own language, an invisible divide has already been erected. Making even a small effort to communicate in the language of the place you’re visiting can go a long way and you’ll find many more doors open up to you as a result.

5. You’ll be a better ambassador for your country.
If we’re honest with ourselves, we know very little about other countries and cultures, especially the local politics. And what we do know is often filtered to us by the media, which tends to represent only certain interests. When you can speak the local language, you’re able to answer questions that curious locals have about your country and culture. Are you frustrated with how your country is presented in global news? Are you embarrassed by your country’s leaders and want to make it clear that not everyone is like that where you’re from? This is a very good opportunity to share your story with people who have no one else to ask. We all have a responsibility to be representatives of the place we come from.

Did you start this year out with a resolution to learn Swahili? Haven’t found time to make it happen yet? Well, with students everywhere going back to school this month… Now’s a perfect time to renew your dream of truly learning Swahili.

Even if you’re a complete beginner. Even if you’re out of school…You can and will learn Swahili with 50+ hours of lessons from real teachers. The Too Cool for School Sale at SwahiliPod101 starts today:

Start speaking Swahili from your very first lesson and get our entire Swahili learning system at 26% OFF! That’s just $2.96/month with Basic or $7.40/month with Premium and up to $62.40 in savings. So if you upgrade now, you instantly receive:

How does it work? And how will you learn Swahili?
Learning Swahili in a class simply isn’t an option for most of us with work, family and busy schedules. Between the excessive costs and the inconveniences of getting to class and working around someone else’s schedule, classrooms aren’t realistic.

But at SwahiliPod101, you get fun, effective and proven lessons from real Swahili teachers. The entire learning system was designed to help you overcome the obstacles of traditional classes, because:

SwahiliPod101 is a Mere Fraction of the Cost of Classrooms

You Get 50+ Hours of Audio & Video Lessons from Real Swahili Teachers

You Access Lessons & Study Tools With Your Computer or Any Mobile Device

That’s right: You learn whenever and wherever is convenient for you and at a pace you choose! And during the Too Cool for School Sale, just sign up for any annual Basic or Premium subscription by clicking on any link and we’ll instantly discount the price by 26%!

So for the next few days, that means you gain full access to our Basic plan for as low as just $2.96 per month or our most popular Premium plan for just $7.40 a month – a mere fraction of what you would pay for traditional classroom instruction!

Don’t Forget Your FREE Swahili Audiobook!
Get the best of both worlds with real-life conversation and the in-depth explanations of a textbook! Listen to over 6.5 hours of lessons and read along with 200+ pages. You’ll get your free Audiobook instantly when you upgrade, inside the welcome email.

Remember, you get a 60-Day Money-Back Guarantee so if plans change or you are anything less than thrilled with our language learning system – we’ll promptly refund your entire order without any hassles or questions.

But hurry: Although it’s never too late to make a fresh start and realize your dream of learning Swahili, the Too Cool for School Sale ends soon, so….

P.S. All subscriptions are fully backed by our 60-day money-back guarantee meaning you can lock in your savings now and if you later decide that you’re not learning Swahili as fast as you’d like, then we’ll refund your entire subscription amount. You have nothing to lose but you have to ACT NOW before this Too Cool for School Sale ends!

When you’re learning Swahili and want real progress…look for the consistent method. One that’s non-stop and keeps you going. What’s a good one? SwahiliPod101 Lessons – free audio and video lessons, every week. In fact, a new season of lessons has started this month that you can grab. Anything else? Vocab lists, where you learn new words and phrases all the time. And don’t forget that our 29% OFF Summer of Swahili Sale ends Friday!

2. New Lessons Started this July – Here’s the 2015 Lesson Schedule!
Now, we know that you want more lessons. They’re non-stop, free and get you speaking more Swahili in minutes. So, you should know that new lessons and seasons started on July 6th. What kind of lessons? And what days do they come out on? Check the publishing schedule. And if you want to get our entire system – over 50+ hours of lessons – grab the 29% discount above!

3. Free Feature Alert: Speak More Swahili with Word & Phrase Lists
Here’s another non-stop way to boost your Swahili – Swahili Word and Phrase Lists. They’re based on holidays, current events and all-around useful topics. Our listeners learned how to talk about their summer plans in Swahili with a recent list! Just click below, access any list and review with definitions, sample sentences and audio pronunciation.

P.S. Ends Friday! Get a HOT 29% OFF the Most Effective Swahili Course!
Ready to master more Swahili this summer? Get 29% OFF any plan and start speaking Swahili with lessons by real teachers. Unlock our ENTIRE learning system – 50+ hours of audio and video lessons, mobile apps, lesson notes, study tools and more! Just $2.84/month and up to $69.60 OFF! Ends 7/31/2015!

The Summer of Swahili is in full swing at SwahiliPod101. That means we’re helping thousands of people like you to learn Swahili this summer! Yes, we are helping to make your dream of learning Swahili easier and more affordable with a LIMITED TIME 29% OFF Basic and Premium.

With Premium, you get unlimited SwahiliPod101 access – All lessons, lesson notes, study tools, smart flashcards, apps and more – and dramatically reduce your learning time. Premium is our most popular plan and is the fastest track to learning Swahili.

So essentially, if you are in no rush and want to learn Swahili, then select Basic. But, if you want full access to more than a dozen time-saving tools and resources so you can learn Swahili as quickly as possible, then Premium is best for you.

But no matter which plan you choose, you get a full 29% off any length Basic or Premium plan during the Summer of Swahili sale. Don’t delay. This ends July 31st, 2015.

Your investment is 100% risk-free. Your purchase is backed by a 60-day money-back guarantee. If you’re not speaking Swahili as fast as you’d like and if you’re not blown away by the results, simply contact us for a full refund. So what are you waiting for?

P.S. Stop “dreaming about your dream” of learning Swahili and make it a reality by signing up during our Summer of Swahili Sale. With Premium, you get UNLIMITED access to our Swahili learning system and save up to $69.60 instantly!

One of the most important factors in keeping your motivation up is developing it into a habit. Whether it be 20 minutes or 3 hours, schedule time to study every day and stick to it. Regular exposure solidifies what you learn and keeps you progressing. To make sure you stick to your routine, a great idea is to build a schedule for your day and decide that every day/Monday/weekend, you study from 6pm to 8pm. Just remember that 30 minutes a day, every day, is better than a binge 8-hour study session at the end of the week (though it’s obviously better than nothing).

2. Learn a word a day with our great Word of the Day learning tool.

Trying to learn everything at once and getting overwhelmed by the sheer number of words in your new language is not a good idea. Sometimes, even if you do learn new words, you forget them quickly because you haven’t heard them enough in context. As mentioned above, daily exposure to new words is an important factor in solidifying your target language. Our Word of the Day tool delivers you daily words and phrases, shows you how to pronounce them and use them in different contexts. Since you can get the WOTD via email, Facebook, or Twitter, this is a passive way of learning a language that fits into your existing daily social media routine. It only takes 3 minutes to review a word and practice its pronunciation, so you can do it on the way to work, in the gym, or even before you go to bed.

If there’s a community of people who speak the language you want to learn in your city, start attending those events! Friendship is the easiest way to get comfortable with the slang, intonation, and mannerisms of a new language. The key to learning any language is speaking a lot, so try to find a native speaker who can be your conversation partner. Having friends that speak your target language means that you will find yourself in situations where you have no choice but to speak that language. But since they are your friends, you will be doing things you enjoy with them. So these situations will probably have little or no stress. These friendships will also mean that you have someone you can ask about language, culture, and so on.

4. Take a break!

If you’re having an off day or if your brain is already tired of studying, see if you can take a break and do something fun AND useful. Comic books, illustrated stories, and cartoons are a fun way to keep learning while reducing the target language text load for weary eyes. Plus, the images help you plant lasting seeds of memory, as researchers say humor opens up cognitive doors. This is a way to keep the target language active in your brain without the strain of studying a textbook.

Don’t get stuck with the same content though. When things start to bore you, move on. Change up your books, movies, anime, music, dramas, and so on when they start getting old.

5. Don’t give up!

As with any goal, there are going to be pitfalls along the way. You’d have to be incredibly determined to never have an off-day or consider giving up. And when you do it’s ok, but the important thing is to pick yourself up after this temporary setback and keep going. Knowing you’ve overcome a few obstacles is only going to make the moment you have your first conversation in another language that much sweeter. Like the Swahili proverb says, ‘Fall down seven times, stand up eight.’